Govt. to formulate new health policy: Harsh Vardhan

The government is in the process of formulating a new health policy, which will also address the issue of high cost of medical devices and equipment used in hospitals that leads to hardship for patients, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

He was responding to the question raised during Zero Hour on the issue of exorbitant cost of medical devices such as stents, implants, pacemakers, artificial joints and titanium plates.

Raising the matter, Congress member Shantaram Naik said these devices place the patients at the mercy of hospitals, which often overcharge. The cost of the medical devices is very high to accommodate commissions and patients are “kept hostage” in absence of proper checks, he added.